ANF anchor/reporter returns to host “ATL Live”
After winning big on the hit reality TV show, “Survivor”, Season 49 winner and Season 50 competitor Savannah Louie is renewing her broadcast TV career at the local station she last anchored and reported for, Atlanta News First.
But she’s not headed back to the anchor desk or out in the field.
Louie will host WANF-TV’s daily lifestyle show, “ATL Live,” starting June 1st.
The show, which she will co-host with Ava Braatz, “celebrates the heartbeat of Atlanta, highlighting the food, culture, and experiences that make the city feel like home,” according to ANF’s website. It airs weekdays at 10 am and at 2 pm.
Louie went from journalist to castaway after she departed ANF in September 2024, after three years at the station. Before she landed in Atlanta, Louie also worked at KSDK, the NBC affiliate in St. Louis, KENS, CBS in San Antonio, and WTNZ, a Fox TV station in Knoxville.
Hosting “ATL Live” affords Louie the ability to continue competing on “Survivor”, plus continue as a digital creator, public speaker, and national host.
“I have been on the adventure of a lifetime, but there truly is no place like home,” said Louie, on ANF’s website. “Atlanta has always had my heart. Rejoining the incredible team at Atlanta News First feels like a true homecoming, and I cannot wait to connect with our community every day on ‘ATL Live’ to celebrate everything that makes this city so vibrant.”
Adds Louie’s new boss, ANF general manager Erik Schrader, “We could not be more excited to welcome Savannah back to her Atlanta News First family. Savannah has always had an incredible connection with the people of Atlanta. Watching her conquer the island was amazing, but having her bring that exact same winning energy back to the community she has always championed is a massive win for our viewers.”
32-year-old Louie told CBS Atlanta competing on “Survivor” was a lifelong dream for her.
“I started watching before I could really understand what ‘Survivor’ was, and I’ve loved the show ever since I was like, you know, this tall, right?,” said Louie. “So the first time I applied, I was 17 years old.”
Louie didn’t make the show then, but she made the cut in Season 49 and went to Fiji to take part in the show. She trained and prepared herself for the experience, but even the preparation didn’t spare her from the rigors of living on a deserted island, around competitive strangers, under adverse conditions.
“Think about the most exhausted you’ve ever been, the most stressed that you’ve ever been, the most hungry you’ve ever been…take all of those kind of negative emotions and put them together and then imagine yourself trying to perform at a high level under those conditions,” said Louie in a CBS Atlanta interview.
Coming home after winning “Survivor,” Louie faced an equally unpleasant experience of the taxman claiming some of her winnings. Louie said on the podcast “Financial Tea with Mrs. Dow Jones” that she had to part with $380,000 of her million-dollar winnings to pay the IRS.
“To sign a check over, essentially, for that high, it was unreal. It hurts,” Louie said about having to give up some of her hard-won loot to Uncle Sam.
Hopefully, she’ll be able to make that money back up when she rejoins ANF.
Pictured: Savannah Louie – Photo Credit: Atlanta News First
